1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system and method for escaping a building, and more specifically to a system and method for escaping a multistoried building using strategically placed escape devices that allow escapees to escape without interference along determined escape routes.
2. Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,182,789 B1 to Okamura describes an escape device for escaping from a building or other high area in an emergency and comprises a worm gear mechanism driven by an electric motor and operatively coupled to a reel having a length of high tensile line wound around it, arranged within a casing, and a belt connected to the casing for supporting a person's body. The worm gear mechanism rotates the reel, feeding out the line, and thereby lowering the user to a safe location below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,726 to Chiu et al. describes an emergency escape device composed of a cap, a cylindrical main body, a conical movable body, and a rope. The top end of the rope is fastened with a safety hook engageable with a fixed object located in a building. The main body is provided with a plurality of retainers for holding carriers intended for use in carrying escapees.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,383 to Tseng describes a fire escape device for lowering people from a high-rise, including a casing having a hanger for hanging on a support in a high-rise from which the user is going to escape, a driving pulley mounted inside the casing, a cable wound around the driving pulley and having an outer end extended out of the casing, a harness adapted for securing the user to the outer end of the cable, a friction disk having a corrugated track, a chain transmission turned by the driving pulley to rotate the friction disk, and spring-supported damping means installed in the casing and pressed on the corrugated track of the friction disk to impart a damping resistance to the driving pulley through the friction disk when the user descends from the high-rise.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,640,388 to Walborn describes an escape device that uses multiple discardable cable spools. The escape device casing is fitted to a window ledge by front and rear locking feet. A person attempting to escape uses hand grips for positioning below the roller spool for the cable at a position spaced from the outside wall of the building. As the person descends, the rate of descent is controlled by friction brakes within the casing. Upon reaching the ground, a door in the casing can be opened and the cable spool removed and replaced with a fresh cable spool, thus eliminating the necessity for rewinding the old cable.
3. Background of the Technology
In recent times, technological and economic progress has led to the advancement of multistory buildings. These buildings allow large numbers of people to be located in a small footprint area, but these buildings present challenges when disaster strikes because a quick and efficient evacuation is difficult. In the art, methods and devices have been presented, focusing on allowing an individual to escape from a multistory building. These devices and methods include chutes, stairs, parachute, and rappel-based systems, as well as methods of use thereof.
Generally, rappel-based systems are effective because they are compact and cheap. These systems often include hooks or poles attached to specific points to serve as anchors, which allow attachment of one or more rappeling components, referred to as kits, which allow the user to descend at a controlled rate from the hooks or poles. In the prior art, such kits generally include ropes or cables, harness devices, braking devices, and connectors for attachment to anchors.
The prior art focuses on methods and systems for individual users (referred to herein interchangeably as “escapees”) to attach the kit to an anchor, such as or including a pole, to attach the kit to themselves, and then to exit the building from high above the ground at a controlled rate.
The prior art has failed to address a number of issues, including, but not limited to, the use and placement of multiple escape devices on the outer surfaces of a building and strategic use issues or problems relating to use by many simultaneous or near simultaneous users. For example, while the prior art has focused on the escape of an individual or a plurality of escapees from one window, it has not focused on many practical problems with such escapes, such interference that can occur with as the escape of many people from a multistoried building in a short amount of time over many escape routes.